


Golden City

by larissita



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sakura and Ino want to hit Naruto's booty, Seme Naruto, Stressing this enough, Top Naruto, boruto's dad, bottom sasuke, uke SasUKE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-07-14 05:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16033814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larissita/pseuds/larissita
Summary: Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. During the third Shinobi War, the world had ended for so many people. Some had ended in fire and blood, some had ended in ice and rain. Some villages would never be the same, they were forever marked by their pain. But no village suffered like Uzushio, who ceased to exist, that was invaded before being destroyed, shredded to pieces, ripped, and what was once one of the most beautiful hidden villages became rubles. And stayed just destroyed rubles for so long before someone came to build it again.Naruto always dream about the same place, home, the golden city in the middle of the ocean.





	1. Golden Dreams

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Stormborn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1877970) by [blackkat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat). 



> This story is deeply inspired by "Stormborn" by blackkat. That fict is so amazing and the authour is crazy talented.  
> I don't think this fic will be even a small part as nice as hers but I've been having this in my mind and I just need to write it.  
> Like and comment, and give me any ideas you would find funny, I always love to please people with silly ideas.

_Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. During the third Shinobi War, the world had ended for so many people. Some had ended in fire and blood, some had ended in ice and rain. Some villages would never be the same, they were forever marked by their pain. But no village suffered like Uzushio, who ceased to exist, that was invaded before being destroyed, shredded to pieces, ripped, and what was once one of the most beautiful hidden villages became rubles. And stayed just destroyed rubles for so long before someone came back to build it again._

Naruto was sleeping in his little room, at the age of 8 his place seemed too big for him. Truth was, he was just lonely, no child of 8 should ever be alone this way. But for Naruto this has always been it, no more, no less. Waking up alone, taking care of himself, seeing the old men a few times a month, having the other children being pulled again from his company. Not sure knowing why, he watched the other humans, completely puzzled with their behaviour. The only moment worth his time was during his sleep. He always loved his dreams. The dreams always seemed so real, a beautiful city, by the beach or perhaps an island in the ocean? The air smelled like sea water and tropical plants, sweeten by the pollen, by the nectar in the fruits and flowers blooming in the trees.The village was always so beautiful, not browns, greys and reds like Konoha, hidden behind the huge trees. No, this village was built within the side of a mountain, in steps, the colours being blues, reds and golds, built for an eye for beauty. As if the village has been built by one person instead of a settlement of people. And the sunsets, those were gorgeous, the sunset would make the golden roofs shine like the sun and the sea becomes tinted with red, making the the blues of the buildings seem even more deep,, like the sky, like the ocean, endless.

What Naruto loved the more about his dreams were the people, the people smiled to him. It is crazy to think that these people, these people he dreamed about, were so very different from the people he saw everyday while awake. The dream people was always nice, when he would go through the market, they would give him food, smile, ask him about his day. Even in his dream he would always tell them that he wanted to be Kage, and in this place, the people would smile, wish them good luck, some would even say they believed in him. And the nights where he heard that, those were the nights he wouldwake up with a smile and tears in his eyes.

Those where the most and least painful days. He would get up and could nearly still hearthe voices,the soft words, he could still see glimpses of the smiles and the kind eyes. He would get ready, his body remembering another life, he would make big steps to the academy, like this body wasn't his, like this body was too small for him. In his dreams sometimes he was small, and sometimes he would tower over people, but people would always call him the same way "Arashi-kun". Storm, what a silly name, not that he could ever judge a name, seriously his parents named him Naruto... Which while a perfectramen toppingmaybe wasn't the best name. But he would feel happy in his dreams when people said his name. Storm, something powerful, something that cleans the earth, something that waters the corps and feeds the trees. Something that could help healing the soul. But storms were also terrible things, incredible things that could rip houses apart, stop an army. Naruto would come to think that name fitted him, storms are sad but nice, strong, they create and destroy, they're fierce and Naruto will see that storm as a way to protect oneself and protect his precious people. No matter what.

Those were the days he would daydream in class, sometimes he could hear a small voice in his head. "That's wrong", the voice would whisper. "That doesn't make any sense", it would say again and again. The worse was always during the seal classes, those were the worse, the voice would whisper in his ear, "He doesn't understand, it's more complicated than that, but it's easier that that, more logic, but more like an art, not something anyone can learn, they don't understand it". Naruto would always mess upthe easiest seals but sometimes, the hardest ones, he would get, sometimes he would invent them, not needing any type of help, not needing a guiding hand, like the sealing art was part of his very being. Years later, Naruto would realize he was never the problem. He would understand that other people simply didn't get it, they could not understand that sealing was an art, an art that ran in his blood, in the Uzumaki blood.

For whatever people would say in the future, for how many times Kakashi would think "he looks like Minato". For how many times Jiraya would think the same and nearly say it. For the many times Tsunade would think "he looks just like a Senju with the same burning will of fire". For the many times Mitsuki Uchiha thought "he's Minato and Kushina's son".The truth was that Naruto Uzumaki, would forever be Kushina's son first, he would forever be an Uzumaki before that. And he would forever be Arashi, the orphan who became the third kage of Uzushio, and died defending his village as it fell around himself.

_As Arashi died, Uzushio falling around him, his people dying or running away, he tried holding on the invaders as long as possible. As he died, he laid in the floor of the once beautiful market, by the south market now tinted in red from the blood, he looked at the sky. And Arashi, swore by all the Shinto gods, that he would come back, that he would rebuild his home, that he would get his revenge. Turn Danzo to shreds for what he did, hit him with all the pain, all the hate of his people. As Arashi laid there in pain, his soul leaving his body, he could hear Uzushio whisper in his ear "it's alright, sleep now, you will come back, you will heal this place, built it again, your people will come back home, it'll be alright"._

_Taking his last breath, Arashi closed his eyes. He knew it would be fine._


	2. Smokey Grey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arashi remembers Kagami and Naruto watches Sasuke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, so sorry this took so long, I'm actually already writing the fourth chapter but I was waiting for my friend to beta-ed this. But, we are both very busy with university and I'm slowly dying with all the homework and shit I have so.... yup.... This is no beta-ed so sorry for my shitty english.

Naruto is nearly nine and he remembers the after effects of the Uchiha massacre. Later in his life he remembers, vaguely, the image of the Sasuke from before. The pouting child who would smile every single time he saw his big brother. Naruto would for a long time remember how a simple smile would make Sasuke's fat cheeks stretch, giving him the allure of a cute hamster. The blond would, later in life, during cold nights, wonder if Sasuke could have kept smiling that way. If only the Uchiha massacre could have been avoided. If only innocence could have lasted a little longer. The blond found himself laughing more than once when he imagined Sasuke smiling the same way the Uchiha used to as a kid. During multiple classes at the academy, Naruto would spend hours on end watching Sasuke, remembering another Uchiha, one from his dreams. Kagami.

  
_ Arashi could hear someone running towards him from behind. He was in the middle of his village, not worrying much about a possible attack. He knew the diplomats from Konoha were arriving today by boat, and even if it wasn't the case he would not worry. He knew the person running to him by sound alone, by how he would run, the steps, the rhythm. He knew this person like they had known each other all their lives. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ \- ARASHI! _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Arashi found himself side-stepping the Uchiha, who was jumping towards him and found himself on the floor, they were by the south market. The people kept moving around them, so very used to the scene of Kagami attacking the Uzukage by surprise and Arashi avoiding the whole thing. This scene seemed similar to so many other. After all, Uzumaki's always were overly enthusiasm and seemed to be attacking playfully and jumping around on everyone.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ "Hello Kagami, did you have a nice trip? How is Konoha doing? _ _   
_ _ All good, my clan is slowly pressuring me into getting married and having kids but all good otherwise", said Kagami while getting up and dusting of his clothes. _ _   
_ _ "And how is settling down finally, such an issue?" Asked the kage in a soft voice. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Of course Arashi very clearly already knew the reason the Uchiha was unhappy with his clan's decision to marry him off. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ "I love Hime-chan you know, and she likes me too..." said the Uchiha like it explained everything. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ But didn't it? Hime was a Senju, even though Kagami was deeply in love with her it didn't change the fact that they could never marry. The Uchiha had talked to  the kage about said subject multiple times but it never seemed to be any solution to this particular problem. Both Naruto and Arashi hoped more than once to have said something like "run off with her, come here, I'll protect you both no matter what". But that was also an impossibility, Uzushio was an ally of Konoha, as such he could never hide two ninjas of an allied village from said village. And no matter how much he wanted to see Kagami smile, his people didn't need another war. His nation was way too small to survive more wars, they were strong, and his ninjas were easily worth 10 ninjas from other countries. But it didn't stop them from being a too small country with too small of a number. The whirlpool country was small, whether it was in numbers or territory. Arashi put a gentle hand on Kagami's shoulder, a silent support was all he could ever offer. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ "Do you ever imagine us being something else? And don't say something stupid like a having a ramen stand. I know you love the damn thing and I know you would eat everything before making a single ryo." _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Arashi started laughing, Kagami knew him so much, he was the best. He really missed Kagami whenever he wasn't here. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ "I wasn't going to say that.... I'm too lazy to make ramen, I just eat it. I think I would have enjoyed being a shinobi sensei. What about you? _ _   
_ _ \- I think I would have liked to have a flower shop with Hime, she really loves flowers you know? Sometimes is all she talk about for hours." Answered Kagami, getting that dreamy look, the one people in love have. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Like observing the waves for the first time, not watching but really observing, the fascination that develops within seconds and seems to caught all our attention. Like how people can spend hours on end just watching the movements of the waves, watching the foam form then disappear into nothingness. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ "You love her so?" _ _   
_ _ "With all my life and more..." Was the only reply the kage got. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ How sad it was, to watch that face, usually so full of happiness, turn so sad, watch those deep dark eyes turn to grey. The Uchiha looked tired when he had this conversation with the Uzumaki. The blond, trying to make things better, pulled Kagami by the hand gently going to a ramen stand to feed the other and himself. The sky outside turning grey. It was going to rain today. _ __   
  
Whenever Naruto would dream about Kagami he would spend all class watching Sasuke. He would find himself looking for Kagami in every Uchiha's face. The blond knew that logically it didn't make any sense to search for him. He had no idea if Kagami even existed, maybe this was all his imagination. But a part of him, a crazy part perhaps, whispered that it was all true. But the voice always kept whispering, “an Uzumaki never fails” it would say. “Failure is to stop trying” it would console him when he cried frustrated from failures he had in class or at his place. “Slow can go, no need to rush” the voice would comfort him when he tried and failed again. “The biggest lie of this world is love” the voice would lull him to his sleep at night.

 

And so Naruto would watch. He would watch in class. He would watch outside, walking around the village, getting closer to the Uchiha compound. And closer to the compound, he would find Kagami. He would find him in the shape of some Uchiha's faces. He would find him in the shapes of the kids smiles. He would find him in the dark hair of some others. At some point he even found Kagami in Shisui's shape from behind. In that moment, Naruto could had sworn his heart stopped for a second.   
  
And he would find him in Sasuke's eyes every day after the massacre. Sasuke's eyes turned a permanent grey afterwards, sad with the tragedy of his clan massacre. The days leading up to the massacre, he remembers Itachi coming to pick up Sasuke more often. Did those caring days make everything worse or did it make it better? Did Sasuke found himself laying awake at night, silently wondering how his brother could ever fool him that way? Wondering how Itachi could have faked caring about his little brother. Wondering how he could have been so stupid as to not notice his brother was lying to him. That his brother was planning to take the whole world away from him?   
  
During the weeks leading to the massacre Naruto would found himself watching Itachi. There was just something in the air, like a taste of stress hanging in the air. He would see the thinning lines on Itachi's face as stress and pressure took over his very being. The tension was something visible in the air and Naruto could perceive it.

 

The blond would realise later in life that the only reason he could even pick up the tension in Konoha before the massacre was because, in a previous life he had been prepared and trained to notice it. He would often wonder if other people ever noticed it too.

 

The day after the massacre, it didn’t rain, the sky didn’t fall on their head, and the world didn’t crumble into pieces. But people did gossip, the villagers would go around with a not so silent terror, telling  everyone who would hear them about the count of bodies there was in the Uchiha compound. The shinobi’s gossiped too, between them, some wondering how Itachi could have done that, how a kid could do that.

 

But villagers or shinobi, everyone pitied Sasuke, the poor kid would go to the compound alone, live there for years, where no one would take care of him. Because everyone cared for gossip but no one cared for the orphans. Naruto and Sasuke were both living proof of that. And there were more, so many more orphans that were left forgotten in the village.

 

As an 8 years old, Sasuke would walk through the walls of the compound,  seeing and hearing the ghosts around him. He would make himself something to eat. But everything tasted like ashes. He would receive sweets for his birthday, but he remembered Itachi’s love of sweets and he would just throw everything in the trash. So while Naruto survived on instant ramen, Sasuke would survive on rice, tomatoes and salmon.

 

Naruto turned to Sasuke, his mind completely disconnected from Iruka and what he was teaching. He looked bored and cold as ice. He looked at the window, a bird attracting his eyes. The sky slowly turning grey. It would rain today...


	3. Blossom Pink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto really wonders why pink hair looks so familiar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... still not beat-ed. I'm blocked at chapter five for right now. Not gonna lie, busy as hell, honestly. School started back again, sunk one of my uni classes, the lost money really hurts, and during Christmas time I was working like 55 hours a week which is not counting the 25 and 31 December, cause everything is closed then. So here is chapter 3, hoping it doesn't suck.

Naruto is ten going on eleven when he misses the colours. In his dreams, Naruto would always be amazed at people’s hair. Konoha was the village hidden among the leafs for a reason. The whole place was painted in earth tones, from the beige house all the way to the brown and black hair of its people. The only added colour was the Kage’s tower roof, it was a bright red for the will of fire.

 

But his dreams were so very different, the golden roofs, red doors and blue titles of the street. The south market was flooded in blues, grays, white and creams. Everything was colourful, more vibrant that it seemed actually possible. And so the people would be just as colourful. The clothes would be of every colour possible.

 

Often the women wore kimonos, the different shades, embroideries and tones mixing together, just gorgeous. Uzushio was made by an old clan of samurais, that’s what the Uzumakis once were before becoming ninjas. And so it could be notice by their style of clothes, their walk, how they held themselves. While the women wore kimonos, the men did the same, wearing short kimonos with samurai pants underneath, but all the clothes were just as colourful. Strong tones of red, purples, blues, greys, golds, yellows, oranges, silvers. Every clan with it’s own colours and emblems but all wearing the orange spiral of the Uzumaki, of Uzushio.

 

The Yakushi were the clan holding the hospital, they wore purple and silver. Silver just like their hair and dark purple like their eyes. And Naruto, Arashi really, remembers the first time he got hurt and ended up at the hospital. Just his left ankle that twisted a little. He had to wait for a doctor to heal it with some chakra and he remembers it like it was yesterday.

 

_ “It's always so curious when we get someone for this kind of injury. Us ninjas are so used to the blood, to fractures and deep cuts that we sometimes find ourselves forgetting that the human body is something incredibly resistant and fragile” _

_ Arashi looked up, his left ankle resting on the bed gently. The doctor was a woman, maybe in her 30, with a nice gentle smile. You know the ones that were deeply neutral, the ones you always get from nurses and doctor. The reassuring one. _

 

_ “I was running down the hills” the uzumaki answered. _

_ “That's quite alright, did you have fun at least?” The smile changed this time, actually curious and amused. _

_ “Of course, what are hills for if not to run?” _

_ “Good point” the doctor sat down on a chair and started fixing his ankle. “Try to not hurt yourself again, alright?” A small laugh, trying so hard to keep serious. _

_ “People say I'm very clumsy” _

_ Then laughter from both people in the room. _

_ “It’s very strange to see you hurt, you passed your chuunin exam last month without a scratch and now you come here because you twisted your ankle?” _

 

_ Arashi stayed quiet for a while, the exam had been easy, a test to see if they were cunning, then survival, then the tournament, nothing too complicated really. Arashi was good fighting, he used seals like he breathed and it was hard for people to even touch him, during a fight. When he did get to fighting thought he was still young and an Uzumaki. The Uzumaki style was particular, they had a lot of energy and as such it kind of look like cooking corn, big jumps, twists and turns, the body compacted tightly. Nearly impossible to hit, always moving. Most people didn't even get to land a hit. Less so genins who weren’t ready to become chuunin. _

 

_ Before he had time to answer his ankle was fixed and he could go on his way. _

 

The morning after that dream, Naruto woke up with a phantom pain in his own ankle. The pain never stopped him though, he would run to school. After so much pain a twisted ankle was more uncomfortable than painful. Nothing to worry about at all. So Naruto would run through the village and down the small hill by the academy, feeling his ankle hurt in a strangely good way. Something reminding him of another life, of a ninja-medic who cares, of an auntie that had worried for him. Of multiple people in the street who had given him food after hearing about his accident. So Naruto would take the same pain to keep this feeling close to his heart, even though it was just a dream. Even though villagers wouldn't act that way. Not this time around.

 

And as Naruto arrived to the academy, he would see the hair of his classmates, blacks, browns or blonds but only one colour really intrigued him. Sakura's pink hair was the easiest to spot. Naruto thought of Sakura as being the prettiest girl, he liked her hair.

 

_ Arashi was running through the village, trying to get his people to safety. The buildings were on fire, blood was tainting the streets. And Arashi kept running, defeating as many enemies as he could. He was trying to get to the orphanage. He needed to save the kids. _

 

_ He had told his people to evacuate as soon as he had know of the village, he could feel them leave his sensor range. Arashi had cuts all over, he was bleeding, painting his own streets a deep red. Even the seals painted on his skin were a feeble attempt to survive. He knew his time was coming, and he would die fighting but before, he needed to get to the orphanage. _

 

_ That Kage ran as fast as he could and got to the orphanage to help some genins that were trying to help the orphans against Kiri ninjas. He killed them quickly, gone was the gentle smiles he would give his people. Everything that was left within his heart was his need to protect his family, his people. _

 

_ “Get the orphans quickly and let’s go, there's not time” _

_ “But Uzukage-sama…” one of the genins tried to protest, his name was Akira, he was barely 10. _

_ “Uzushio is it's people, now go, get on one of the boats, make sure the orphans make it, those are orders” Arashi was never one to argue with. _

_ “Yes, Uzukage-sama” and Arashi was left there, watching as the orphans were taken away, hoping so bad they would make it. _

 

_ Arashi started walking down the street, he could feel his people leave, either out of the island or they chakra would fade, they were dying. Some had made it, that was the important. He started looking around, the bodies, oh so many bodies, twisted in death. Their eyes glazed, looking at the sky, forever looking up. And the sun was setting, underlining the horrible and twisted image in front of his eyes. Painting it red even more, no longer beautiful. But like his whole city was bleeding away, crying for the loss. Slowly losing his people, its life. Arashi looked at each body on his way, these were his people, he would remember each of them. The blond whispered each of their names as he passed them. There was a body near the hospital, a pretty girl, the child of an Uzumaki and a Yakushi, nearly ripped apart. Still beautiful in death, soft pink hair was stained blood red. _

 

Sakura's hair reminded him of something, of someone, he couldn't quite remember what though. Some nights he would just see the flashes. The blood on the streets, the fire, and then the flash of pink tainted by red spots. And Naruto would just stare at Sakura's hair the next morning. Wondering why he felt like she would make an excellent medic-ninja. Such a strange thought…

 

Outside the sakura trees were blooming, the soft pink falling away, like soldiers had fell once upon a time...


	4. Demon Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roses are red, that much is true,  
> But violets are purple not fucking blue,
> 
> They are indeed purple,  
> But one thing you've missed;  
> The concept of "purple"  
> Didn't always exist.  
> Some cultures lack name  
> For a colour, you see.  
> Hence good old Homer  
> And his "wine-dark sea".  
> A usage so quaint,  
> A phrasing so old,  
> For verses of romance  
> Is sheer fucking gold  
> So roses are red,  
> violets were once called blue.  
> I'm hugely pedantic,  
> But what else is new?
> 
> Poeme by: tumblr.marzipanandminutiae

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so... honestly I'm freaking out a little, I think I've finished writing chapter 5 but I'm not sure how to write chapter 6 and this is freaking me out a little. I have like pieces of ideas but nothing concrete so... yeah... sorry...
> 
> Oh! Also super important, someone wrote me a comment asking more specifics on the memories I write within the chapters, Naruto doesn't know those are real. Those memories are dreams, sometimes images, impressions that he doesn't understand yet, he will understand soon.
> 
> Sasuke and Naruto start communicating in chapter 6, which also explains why I'm having such a hard time with it.

Naruto remembers Mito Uzumaki, even though she was dead years before he was even born. But that doesn’t seem to mean anything in his life.

 

_ By the time Arashi was born, Mito was already a Senju bride. She had left for Konoha and was already married with kids. The first time Arashi saw her, he was barely a genin, fresh out of the academy. Mito had come visit, she did that whenever she could. It was clear that she missed her home. She would walk around the village, looking around like she was trying to remember everything. She wanted to engrave her home within her mind. All the small details. _

 

_ And she was beautiful. Near the academy, she was looking around, perhaps remembering her own graduation, her school days. The people she had known. Remembering the years gone by. She looked like a statue, immobile, too strong to have those soft features. The strength clear behind her gentle hands. She looked so much younger than she was, her long hair held in two buns, her kimono white with green. Colours belonging to Konoha, earth tones. Arashi had seen paintings of her before she left, a red kimono underlined with gold, a white fox decorating the bottom left side. Mito was the first Kyuubi jinchuuriki, and Arashi was in awe. Such a wonderful woman, strong and smart to keep the demon on a leash, amazing. _

 

_ “Child, will you stop looking at me? You’re not very subtle, you can come close if you want.” Arashi fell on the ground from the small tree. _

_ “Miss Mito, Uzumaki-sama... I mean Senju-Sama, I didn’t mean to disturb you” _

_ “Such a small clumsy ninja, what are you doing here child?” _

_ She was still looking away, like she was discussing alone somehow. She looked like a statue of marble, not a sign of age on her perfect porcelain face. _

_ “I… I just made genin, I’m not a small ninja, I will be the next Uzukage you know, the youngest one ever.” _

_ “Will you now? Well I certainly look forward to it then, you better make it soon so I can see it with my own eyes” _

 

_ A soft smile and a gentle laugh, never having a mocking tone to it. The one adults so often had for the kids’ dreams. And Mito was now looking at him and Arashi felt like he was freezing inside and caught on fire at the same time. Those eyes could see through him, searching for something he could not see. She smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. _

_ “Come here child, let’s teach you how to be an Uzukage then.” _

 

_ That day Mito and Arashi met each other, they started talking. And that day Arashi learned to walk all over again. Like he was a toddler taking his first steps. He was, on a certain strange mesure, he was taking his first steps. “Back straight, shoulders relaxed and back, face held high, like you know your power”. And Arashi would walk in front of her, again and again until it was natural. “Perfect your face, always gentle, always nice, charm them with a smile”. And so he would practice and perfect it until Mito-sama was satisfied. “You wear a kimono, charm men and women alike, never lower yourself but make them fall in love with you, by how you walk, by how you stand, with your eyes, with your smile. Make them feel like they will die if they take their eyes away from you.” And Arashi kept those lessons close to his heart, even after Mito-sama died. Everytime Mito-sama came to Uzushio, she would give him a new lesson. They would meet near the academy and she would teach him. Shaping the future Uzukage slowly. _

 

Years later, in a festival, in the middle of Konoha, Sasuke would watch Naruto move in a kimono. The blond was graceful, soft. Long gone was the clumsy child who tripped all over the place. He moved like he knew people were watching. He looked flawless. A dancer who knew people could not see him fail and he made it looked effortless. Like he was born to dance this way. Naruto was 12 then, Iruka had taken all the students to the festival and Kiba had lend a kimono to Naruto. The colours didn't fit him, the earth tones never looked good on him. Seven years later Sasuke would see Naruto in a kimono again, red, trimmed with gold, with a white fox on it. And Sasuke could have sworn at that moment, that his heart stopped. He had never seen something quite like that.

 

_ Sometimes Mito would talk about other things. She would talk about Konoha, about her kids, her grandchild. She would talk about her Uzushio, the one that no longer exist, the one in her memories. How she missed it. She would talk about the Kyuubi, with a soft voice, nearly a whisper, like saying his name would conjure him. Arashi would find himself in love with how she spoke. He came to understand something during their long talks. The Kyuubi was a prisoner and neither him nor Mito had asked for this situation. It was an incredibly burden. _

_ “Mito-sama, when I'm Uzukage, I will make sure Jinchuurikis always have a home here.” _

_ Those were the promises whispered between the two of them. Arashi would realize something was wrong with the world and then would promise to fix it. And not even death could make him break his promises. “I'll love and protect them” he would say about the orphans, about his people, about the Jinchuurikis. And Mito would laugh, “with so much love you might explode”. “It is worth it”. The discussion would end with that and Mito would smile to the future Uzukage. And Arashi would look at her hair, thinking it was the prettiest colour in the world. _

 

At twelve, after his failed graduation exam, Naruto would look at the same scarlet red. He was running through the forest with the scroll, he had started doing an exploding water clone in front of the teachers before realizing it. He had lost his momentum and failed to make the most basic clone. Mizuki had come to see him afterwards, telling him about a scroll and Naruto hadn't stop to think. Hadn't realized that Mizuki was clearly hiding something. “Traitor”, his mind whispered but Naruto wanted to be Hokage, wanted it so bad, enough to shut the voice down.

 

And things had transpired. That was the night Naruto learned the Kyuubi was sealed within him. Iruka had protected him, and while he was bleeding over him. Something woke within Naruto, a vengeful voice, a hurt so deep, the voice would no longer shut up. “No one will ever hurt what is mine, no one will hurt those I care about”. And from a strength that seemed foreign to both Iruka and Mizuki, Naruto kicked some serious ass. Mizuki's ass. Into oblivion.

 

Mizuki was on his way to the holding cells with the anbu guards, Iruka was on his way to the hospital and Naruto had given the scroll back to Sarutobi. That night while walking to his too big appartment, his feet were itching. That was the first time Naruto felt the need to run home, and home didn't seem to be within Konoha.

 

That night Naruto couldn't sleep so he tried something from his dreams, he meditated. And as he opens his eyes, he finds himself in what seemed like a sewer. His feet deep in cold water, it made the whole thing feel so real. Naruto started walking, in what seemed to be his mind. This place was a mess, he really needed to something about it.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

“What do you want brat?”

 

Naruto watched as red eyes glared at him. Those eyes were full of hatred. The blond could relate, he had felt just the same so many times. He had watched the villagers whisper about him, he had seen their eyes, so similar to the hatred in the monster's eyes.

 

“Fox got your tongue brat? Humans are all the same…”

_ “Nine tails… Regrettably, I cannot let you run loose.” Tobirama had said so. _

“No matter what words they use…”

_ “When you exert your power, you draw hatred to you. Please stay quiet inside of me.” And then Mito. _

“Humans all say…”

_ “You may be here to keep the world in check, but I'm here to watch you.” Kushina had finished. _

“... The same thing. And now it's this brat? I'll bet even him…”

“Kyuubi, what's your name?”

 

Blue eyes were looking at the demon, not scared, not with pity. But with a sincere hope that he will answer. What a strange human this little one was.

 

“And why would you care brat?”

“Don't you have a name? Mine is Naruto.”

 

The Kyuubi let out a huge laugh. “Get out of here brat!” And before Naruto knew it, he was back in his bed. All alone again.

That night, as he fell asleep, Naruto pressed a soft hand on his stomach. Right over the seal. Kyuubi would later come to realize that the water dried away slowly throughout the years, that the air turned warmer with time.

That night, before getting his Genin team assigned, all Naruto dreamed about Mito-sama, her hair and a comfy fur he cuddled in his sleep. Both the same demon red shade...


End file.
